Cease The Grease

If you happen to be driving through Dallas, you will see billboards with a turkey, a water pipe, and the words "Cease the Grease." Do not have any idea what the turkey is all about. Maybe they went up close to Thanksgiving. Anyway, this advertising campaign is meant to educate people against pouring cooking oil and grease down the drain where it clogs the pipes. We had this happen to us, not pretty. I have been composting our cooking oil with nary a problem. Still, most composting information advises against this. So I thought, what else can someone do with grease and oil if they are afraid to compost it. The Internet revealed a few very good ideas.

1. Mix left over animal fat (say from hamburgers or Crisco) with any combination of seeds, uncooked oatmeal, corn meal, and flour. Pour the mixture into a container and place it in the freezer until it firms up. You have made homemade suet for the birds.

2. Use old cooking oil instead of lighter fluid. I think this is an awesome idea. Just poor it over your wood or charcoal and light. Problem oil solved and food doesn't taste like lighter fluid.

3. Wet a newspaper or used paper towel with cooking oil and use this to help start the fire in your fireplace.

4. Find a local restaurant and see if they will let you add your oil and grease to their old oil and grease, which is then recycled into other products like makeup and sometimes bio fuels.

5. My dad pours it over the dog food. Oil gone in a flash. Before you light up my comments to tell me this is bad, I know it can be bad. If your animal is overweight, DO NOT DO THIS. Our animals are kept at a healthy weight and food scraps and occasional oil on food does no harm. Dear Ole Dad is a veterinarian, I trust him. The dog food companies would have you believe that only dog food is healthy for dogs. They are just trying to sell you dog food. Dogs eat anything, they always have.

Any other suggestions for the "green" disposal of oil and grease?